Particle Image Velocimetry
Hey there! So, have you ever been to the beach and seen the waves moving? Well, that's kinda like what we are gonna talk about - how we can see how particles move in fluids.
Particle image velocimetry, or PIV for short, is a fancy way of figuring out how fluids - like air or water - flow around objects. To do this, we use tiny particles that are added to the fluid being studied, and a laser to make them visible.
Ok, imagine you have a cup of milk, and you throw some chocolate chips into it. Now, if you stir the milk gently, the chocolate chips will start moving around. Right? Now, let's say you shine a flashlight on the glass. You will see the chocolate chips moving in the milk, right? That's a bit like what the laser does in PIV.
So, we have all these tiny particles in the fluid, and we shine a laser on them. When the laser hits a particle, it gets reflected and bounces off at a certain angle. A camera takes pictures of the particles reflecting light from the laser, capturing how they move. It takes two pictures exactly one after the other, and then a computer compares both of them to see how the particles have moved in between the photos.
That's basically how PIV works - we can see how the particles move and we know that they move with the fluid, so we can figure out how the fluid is flowing.
Scientists use PIV to study things like airflows over cars, airplanes and even people. It helps them design better and more efficient vehicles, and helps us understand how air pollution can spread. Pretty cool, huh?
Particle image velocimetry, or PIV for short, is a fancy way of figuring out how fluids - like air or water - flow around objects. To do this, we use tiny particles that are added to the fluid being studied, and a laser to make them visible.
Ok, imagine you have a cup of milk, and you throw some chocolate chips into it. Now, if you stir the milk gently, the chocolate chips will start moving around. Right? Now, let's say you shine a flashlight on the glass. You will see the chocolate chips moving in the milk, right? That's a bit like what the laser does in PIV.
So, we have all these tiny particles in the fluid, and we shine a laser on them. When the laser hits a particle, it gets reflected and bounces off at a certain angle. A camera takes pictures of the particles reflecting light from the laser, capturing how they move. It takes two pictures exactly one after the other, and then a computer compares both of them to see how the particles have moved in between the photos.
That's basically how PIV works - we can see how the particles move and we know that they move with the fluid, so we can figure out how the fluid is flowing.
Scientists use PIV to study things like airflows over cars, airplanes and even people. It helps them design better and more efficient vehicles, and helps us understand how air pollution can spread. Pretty cool, huh?
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